Neo and Nora's Midnight Mayhem
by KnightMiner
Summary: A simple White Fang robbery that Neo supervises goes awry when a certain excitable girl shows up.


It was official, this had been the most boring robbery ever. Neo leaned back on the roof of a local Dust shop and let out a sigh. For the last half-hour, she'd been watching pathetic White Fang members load crate after crate of Dust into the bed of their box truck.

"Why do we have to do this stuff so late at night?" whined a young recruit as he rubbed his palms together. "I'm gonna get frostbite or something!"

"Quit your crying, rookie!" his superior barked. "Be glad that these uniforms keep our heads covered."

"Speak for yourself..." a nearby fox Faunus mumbled, his ears poking out of his hood.

Their bickering droned on for several minutes, but Neo stopped listening. The robbery moved on with little excitement, just like every other job she'd been forced to babysit. Neo began to lose focus as her thoughts wandered. _It'd be great if Roman and I could go get ice cream afterwards._ He hadn't done that since before they got involved in the White Fang, and now he was always busy with some new heist. Neo missed those simpler times. She laid down flat on the roof and began to drift into her memories. Suddenly, a voice rang out from across the street.

"Stop right there, evildoers!" cried a young girl. Neo sprang from her comfortable position to find the source. _At last,_ she thought, _something interesting_. Neo turned her eyes to the opposite side of the road to see a young girl standing with perfect posture and her hands at her hips like a superhero. The holographic street lamps reflected off a small shopping bag sitting next to her and illuminated the girl's face in the night. Her smile shone bright with confidence and her eyes contained a fire of excitement that Neo had only ever seen when looking in the mirror.

"Surrender now, you cretins," the orange-haired girl continued, "or face the wrath of Nora!"

The leader of the operation took a heavy step forward. "If you know what's good for ya, kid, you'll walk away right now!"

It seemed that was all that this girl, Nora, needed to hear. She produced a large grenade launcher from her belt and fire a shot directly at the feet of the robbery's leader. He tumbled backward into a few of his allies, knocking them down under his weight. The robbers that remained standing unsheathed their swords and raised their rifles hoping to intimidate their young opponent. _Those stubborn idiots_, Neo thought, _it's already clear who the victor of this fight will be_. She was happy they were trying though, since it would be enjoyable to watch a show before getting involved. Nora aimed her launcher directly at her own feet and fired a shot, sending her rocketing through the air to the White Fang.

"WHEEEEEEEEE!"

As she flew, her weapon extended back and folded at the front into the shape of a giant hammer. Nora raised it above her head and brought it crashing down in the middle of the criminals. The impact of the blow hurled the goons in different directions. Some were thrown into the brick walls of the buildings while others collided with the box truck filled with Dust. Nora gripped her weapon with two hands and waited for one of them to stand back up. After a few seconds, she lowered it to her waist.

"Awww, is it over already?" she grumbled. Neo felt the same way. The battle had been far shorter than she'd hoped, but the outcome was unsurprising. A rush of excitement came over Neo as she realized that with the White Fang taken care of, she could now duel this girl without interruption. She knew this fight wouldn't be much of a challenge, but Neo was content that the night had already brought her much more fun than she expected. Quickly grabbing her parasol, she leapt off the edge of the roof, bounced from a few balconies, and slid down the canopy of the shop to land on top of the White Fang's truck. Nora turned to find her new opponent perched atop the vehicle with a parasol resting on her shoulder and a confident smirk stitched on her face.

"Ooo, you look important!" she observed while raising her hammer, "Would you happen to be one of them?" Neo's smirk twisted into a scowl. At once, she bounded off the truck and threw a swift kick which was promptly blocked by Nora. Neo staggered back and straightened her stance, reigniting her smile at the initiation of the fight.

"Slam!" Nora shouted bouncing to her rival with a strong horizontal swing. Neo gracefully ducked under the strike and took another look at her opponent. Nora's short hair barely budged despite the heavy movement and she smelled faintly of maple syrup. The scent reminded Neo of the wonderful treats she and Roman used to have after a successful heist. It saddened her a bit knowing that those days were over, but there wasn't any time to reflect, and Neo wouldn't allow herself to be distracted by silly memories.

As Nora turned in the completion of her swing, Neo planted a simple illusion of herself in her current spot and slipped behind her opponent unnoticed. Illusions were Neo's favorite tactic in a fight. They always left her enemies with the most wonderful looks of confusion and bewilderment. Nora, believing her opponent to still be standing in front of her, followed up with another swing in the opposite direction, but upon contact with her hammer, the illusion shattered into hundreds of shards of glass. Neo took this opportunity to kick Nora's feet out, throwing her down flat on her back. Despite the hard tumble to the ground, Nora's smile only grew wider.

"That was awesome!" she exclaimed springing back to her feet. Now Neo was the one confused. She had always been told that her ability was tactical, manipulative, and fearsome, but never awesome. As the compliment attempted to register in her head, Neo's smirk cracked a bit to reveal a sincere smile, only to immediately return to its original position. Weakness could not be shown in the face of the foe. Neo prepared another illusion as Nora readied her hammer for the next swing. Raising it over her head, she brought her weapon down on top of the illusion only to suddenly stop short just before touching it.

"Nope," she laughed as she quickly twirled around with an underhanded hit into the real Neo behind her. Caught by surprise, the short illusionist was propelled into the glass window of the Dust shop and tumbled onto a stand of magazines inside. Neo, thankful for her aura, attempted to regain composure as soon as possible. For a brief moment, she cursed that she let her guard down, but soon found herself quite impressed by Nora's quick thinking. The hammer-wielder leapt through the shattered window laughing. Confused by the commotion, the shop's owner hazarded a glance over the counter with eyes wide and worried.

"Remain where you are, sir," commanded Nora, "this won't take long!" He rushed back under his desk holding himself and shaking. Neo both hated and admired the excited girl's confidence. Nora began bouncing in place anticipating Neo's next move. Though she was still dazed slightly from the impact, Neo charged to meet the hammer with her closed parasol.

The two rapidly exchanged blows. Nora swung horizontally. Neo bowed beneath and followed with a jab. Nora smashed from overhead. Neo deflected with her parasol and responded through a kick. Every bash and movement knocked over more stands of books and Dust. To Neo, those objects did not exist, all that mattered in those moments were Nora and her attacks.

In the midst of the exchange, she noticed a small left over crate of Dust planted directly outside the window near the truck. Neo shifted to defense and directed her movements back to the hole of shattered glass. When Nora attempted another underhand smash, Neo took the opportunity to flip back out of the store and positioned herself in front of the crate. As expected, Nora leapt from the shop and brought down an overhead smash. Neo dashed to the right and covered her body with her parasol.

_Boom._

As the multi-colored smoke cleared, Neo peeked out to see the damage. The crate was gone and in its place sat a mound of left over Dust powder. After checking around the truck, Neo discovered her opponent laying back inside the Dust shop covered by torn magazines and broken shelves. Neo approached Nora and checked her pulse. She was only unconscious. _This girl must have some powerful aura,_ Neo thought. It was a little disappointing that the fight was over now. Neo had quite enjoyed herself and it seemed Nora did too, but business had to be done. She unsheathed a long blade from her parasol and prepared to deliver the finishing blow.

But for the first time in her life, Neo hesitated. She didn't want to kill this girl. She had never met another person that enjoyed the fight as much as she did. If this was it, then they would never be able to battle again, and that thought made Neo sad. Suddenly, as she debated herself, music began to play from Nora's pocket.

*Every châtelaine wants to share her reign, so come and join me in my castle*

Annoyed by the sound, Neo reached down and took out Nora's scroll. A call was coming from somebody named Lie Ren. Curious, she answered the phone. At first there was silence, but soon someone on the other end spoke.

"Nora?" he asked, "Are you there?" More silence. Then, just before he hung up, Neo faintly heard the boy say something away from the microphone, "Something's wrong." Neo was bewildered, but someone would likely be on their way soon, and she didn't want to be around when that person showed up. Neo placed the scroll back where she found it and turned to leave, only to stop halfway out. She turned back and gazed down at the unconscious Nora.

This girl didn't deserve to be found like that, buried under rubble and broken glass. Whoever was coming would probably be horrified at such a sight. From respect or pity, Neo was not sure, but she decided to move Nora away from there. She carried the unconscious girl out of the store, down the sidewalk and propped Nora against a wall several doors down from the Dust shop. From that position, it almost looked like she had simply fallen asleep. Neo retrieved the girl's hammer and laid it down next to her. Before giving the situation any more thought, Neo retreated to the rooftops, stared down at Nora, and waited.

She still could not figure out why she had shown such copious mercy. Never before in her life had Neo felt that kind of compassion for another person. Why did it matter to her anyway? Who was this girl to deserve any different? Confusion and questions flooded Neo's mind for the next half hour until she spotted a person she recognized. It was Lie Ren, whom Neo identified from his picture on Nora's scroll. He was followed swiftly by a boy with blonde hair and a girl clad in armor. They strode down the road checking every shop, alley, and bench. Lie Ren moved with urgency and focus. Every step he took was heavy and purposeful. He stopped short upon spotting a shopping bag sitting across the street from the Dust Shop. Approaching the bag, he muttered something to his companions that Neo couldn't quite make out. Lie Ren then turned his gaze up and scanned back and forth along the sidewalks. In an instant, he took off sprinting across the road and stopped to kneel down when he reached Nora. He placed his hands on her shoulders as his two friends caught up to him and began to shake her slightly. Suddenly, Nora's eyes shot open, instantly recognizing the man in front of her.

"Oh hey, Ren! How's it going?" she spoke casually as if it were just another day of seeing her friend.

"It's better now," he replied just as calmly, "But this is the last time we let you go to Vale on your own."

"Nah, I'm fine. You shoulda seen it though! There was this awesome girl who-"

The red haired girl interrupted, "I think you should save the stories for when we get back home."

"Yeah," added the blonde boy holding up the shopping bag, "Besides, we can talk about it over some pancakes!"

"Aww yeah! Let's go!" Nora shouted as she sprang to her feet.

The group of friends left to return where they came from, but as they walked away, Nora glanced back up at the rooftops and sent Neo the biggest smile she'd ever seen. Neo was so dumbfounded by the action that she froze in place, almost wishing she could smiled back. Watching them walk away, a deep longing stirred in her stomach. This girl reminded her so much of herself, except Nora had friends. Real friends. Friends who cared so much about her that they'd rush out in the dark of the night just to know that she was safe. They weren't turned away by Nora's craziness. In fact, they embraced it.

What did Neo have? Roman used to be a friend, but now she never saw him outside of work, and he was usually upset about something when she did. The White Fang were far too self-righteous to try bonding with a human, and everyone else she'd ever met either feared or avoided her completely. Neo had nothing. But in that moment, she realized something new.

She did have a friend. In fact, she just made one there that night, even if she hadn't noticed it. Maybe one day, she could meet Nora again for a rematch. Maybe one day she could even meet Nora's friends and test their skills as well. _Yeah, _Neo thought. _Maybe one day..._


End file.
